DF 



K 






'■*v v5 ^v. .'4• 






p 



J I* ■»■ 1 « f . 







1 ' 



■zr 










'T7 









V^ 







^ ' , V * V"^ K . '^ "' ' o .^ s ' ^0 , „ <- ^ (; , X ^ .\ 












>,o°<. 



xO°< 






















^' 



%*'-<•;/:..., V'--V\. %>".■;;:%#' V- 









.^ 



v^^ 



o'^ 



^^ -^ 



^o 



' o.^ 



.^^ ■''^^ 



\^ 



.0<:>., 










MR. AVEBSTER'S 



©ipisi^igiii 



ON THE 



s^rf fife asf i!>i>iiiiitfi»w« 



WASHINGTON CITY: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOHN S. MEEHAN, 
COLUMBIAN OFFICE, NORTH E STREfeX. 



48S4!. 



\ ^^ ♦ \ 



/ 



o? 



^'' 



MR. WEBSTER'S SPEECH 



ON THE 



(^m^^^ m^^©i]Wm©sr< 



On the 8th of December, 1838, Mr. Webster pre- 
_.ented, in the House of Representatives, the follow- 
ing resolution : 

'' Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by 
law, for defraying the expense incident to the ap- 
pointment of an Agent or Commissioner to Greece, 
w henever the President shall deem it.expedient to 
make such appointment.'^ 

The House having, on the 19th of January, re- 
solved itself into a Committee of the Whole, and 
this resolution being taken into consideration, Mr. 
Webster spoke to the following effect : 

I am afraid, Mr. Chairman, that, so far as my 
part in this discussion is concerned, those expecta- 
tions which the public excitement, existing on the 
subject, and certain associations, easily connected 
w^ith it, have conspired to raise, may be disappointed. 
An occasion which calls the attention to a spot, so 
distinguished, so connected with interesting recol- 
lections, as Greece, may naturally excite something 
of warmth and enthusiasm. Tn a grave, political 
discussion, however, it is necessary that that feeling 
should be chastised. I shall endeavour properly to 
xepress it, although it is impossible that it should be 



4 

altogetlier extinguished. We must, indeed, fly be- 
yond the civilized world, we must pass the dominioa 
of law, and the boundaries of knowledge ^ we must, 
more especially, withdraw ourselves from this place, 
and the scenes which here surround us, if we 
would separate ourselves, altogether, from the influ- 
ence of all those memorials of herself which ancient 
Greece has transmitted for the admiration, and the 
benefit, of mankind. This free form of government, 
this popular assembly, the common council, held for 
the common good, where have we contemplated its 
earliest models ? This practice of free debate, and 
public discussion, the contest of mind with mind, 
and that popular eloquence, which, if it were now 
here, on a subject like this, would move the stones of 
the Capitol, whose was the language in which all 
these were first exhibited ? Even the Edifice in 
which we assemble, these proportioned columns, 
this ornamented architecture, all remind us that 
Greece has existed, and that we, like the rest of man- 
kind, are greatly her debtors. But I have not intro- 
duced this motion in the vain hope of discharging 
any thing of tliis accumulated debt of centuries. I 
have not acted upon the expectation, that we, who 
have inherited this obligation from our ancestors, 
should now attempt to pay it, to those who may seem 
4o have inherited, from their ancestors, a right to re- 
ceive payment. My object is nearer and more imme- 
diate. I wish to take occasion of the struggle of 
an interesting and gallant people, in the cause of lib- 
erty and Christianity, to draw the attention of the 
House to the circumstances which have accompa- 
nied that struggle, and to the principles which appear 



5 

to have governed the coudiict of the great States of 
Europe, in regard to it ; and to the effects and conse- 
quences of these principles, upon the independence of 
nations, and espe<:ially upon the institutions of free 
governments. What I have to say of Greece, there- 
fore, concerns the modern, not the ancient ; the liv- 
ing, and not the dead. It regards her, not as she 
exists in liistory, triumphant over time, and tyranny, 
and ignorance ; but as she now is, contending, 
against fearful odds, for being, and for the common 
privilege of human nature. 

As it is never difficult to recite commonplace re- 
marks, and trite aphorisms ; so it may be easy, I am 
aware, on this occasion, to remind me of the wisdom 
which dictates to men a care of their own affairs, and 
admonishes them, instead of searching for adventures 
abroad, 'to leave other men's concerns in their own 
hands. It may be easy to call this resolution ^uixoticy 
the emanation of a crusading or propagandist spirit. 
All this, and more, may be readily said ; but all this, 
and more, will not be allowed to fix a character upon 
this proceeding, until that is proved, which it takes for 
granted. Let it first be shown, that, in this question, 
there is nothing which can affect the interest, the cha- 
racter, or the duty of this country. Letitbe proved, that 
we are not called upon, by either of these considera- 
tions, to express air opinion on the subject to which 
the resolution relates. Let this be proved, and then 
it will, indeed, be made out, that neither ought this 
resolution to pass, nor ought the subject of it to have 
been mentioned in the communication of the Presi- 
dent to us. But,. in my opinion, this cannot be 
shown. In my judgment, the subject is interestins; 



6 

to the people and the govevnment of this country, and 
w^ are called upon, by considerations of great weight 
and moment, to express our opinions upon it. Thes« 
considerations, I think, spring from a sense of our 
own duty, our character, and our own interest. I 
wish to treat the subject on such grounds, exclusively, 
as are truly American ; but then, in considering it 
as an American question, I cannot forget the age in 
which we live, the prevailing spirit of the age, the 
interesting questions which agitate it, and our own 
peculiar relation, in regard to these interesting ques- 
tions. Let this be, then, and as far as 1 am concern- 
ed, I hope it will be, purely an American discussion; 
but let it embrace, nevertheless, every thing that fair- 
ly concerns America ; let it comprehend*, not merely 
her present advantage, but her permanent interest, 
her elevated character, as one of the free states of 
the world, and her duty towards those great princi- 
ples, which have hitherto maintained the relative in- 
dependence of nations, and which have, more espe- 
cially, made her what she is. 

At the commencement of the session, the President^ 
in the discharge of the high duties of his office, 
called our attention to the subject, to which this 
resolution refers. "A strong hope," says that com- 
munication, " has been long entertained, founded 
on the heroic struggle of the Greeks, that they would 
succeed in their contest, and resume their equal sta- 
tion among the nations ofShe earth. It is believed 
that the whole civilized world takes a deep interest in 
their welfare. Although no powder has declared in 
their favour, yet none, according to our information, 
has taken part against them. Their cause and their 



name, have protected them from dangers, which 
might, ere this, have overwlielmed any other people* 
The ordinary calculations of interest, and of acquisi- 
tion with a view to ag2;randizement, which mingle 
so much in the transactions of nations, seem to have 
had no eifect in regard to them. From the facts 
which have come to our knowledge, there is good 
cause to believe that their enemy has lost, for ever, all 
dominion over them : that Greece will become again 
an independent nation/^ 

Jt has appeared to me,' that the House should 
adopt some resolution, reciprocating these sentiments^ 
so far as it should approve them. More than twenty 
years have elapsed, since Congress first ceased to 
receive such a communication from the President, as 
could properly be made the subject of a general 
answer. I do not mean to find fault with this re- 
linquishment of a former, and an ancient practice. 
It may have been attended with inconveniences, 
which justified its abolition. But, certainly, there 
was one advantage belonging to it ; and that is, that 
it furnished a fit opportunity for the expression of 
the opinion of the Houses of Congress, upon those 
topics in the Executive communication, which were 
not expected to be made the immediate subjects of 
direct legislation. Since, therefore, the President's 
message does not now receive a general answer, it 
has seemed tp me to be proper, that in some mode, 
agreeable to our own usual form of proceeding, we 
should express our sentiments upon the important 
and interesting topics on which it treats. 

If the sentiments of the message in respect to 
Greece be proper, it is equally proper that thiP 



8 

House should reciprocate those seutiments. The 
present resohition is designed to have that extent^ 
and no more. If it pass, it will leave any future 
proceeding where it now is, in the discretion of the 
Executive Government. It is but an expression,* 
under those forms in which the House is accustomed 
to act, of the satisfaction of the House with the gene- 
ral sentiments expressed in regard to this subject in 
the message, and of its readiness to defray the ex- 
pense incident to any inquiry for the purpose of fur- 
ther information, or any other agency which the 
President, in his discretion, shall see fit, in what- 
ever manner, and at whatever time, to institute. The 
whole matter is still left in his judgment, and 
this resolution can in no way restrain its unlimited 
exercise. 

I might well, Mr. Chairman, avoid the responsi- 
bility of this measure, if it had, in my judgment, 
jiny tendency to change the policy of the country. 
Witli the general course of that policy, I am quite 
satisfied. The nation is prosperous, peaceful, 
and happy ; and 1 should very reluctantly put its 
peace, prosperity, or happiness, at risk. It appears 
to me, however, that this resolution is strictly con- 
formable to our general policy, and not only consisl^ 
ent with our interests, but even demanded by a large 
and liberal view of those interests. 

It is certainly true, that the just policy of this coun- 
try, is, in the first place, a peaceful policy. No nation 
ever had less to expect from forcible aggrandizement. 
The mighty agents which are working out our great- 
ness, are time, industry, and the arts. Our augmenta- 
tion is by growth; not ])y acquisition ; by internal de- 



I 



9 

V elopement, not by external accession. No schemes 
can be suggested to us, so magnificent as the prospects 
wliich a sober contemplation of our own condition, 
unaided by projects, uninfluenced by ambition, fair- 
ly spreads before us. A country of such vast extent, 
with such varieties of soil and climate ; with so much 
public spirit and private enterprise ; with a popula- 
tion increasing so much beyond former examples, 
with capacities of improvement not only unapplied 
or unexhausted, but even, in a great measure, as yet, 
unexplored ; so free in its institutions, so mild in its 
laws, so secure in the title it confers on every man 
to his own acquisitions ; needs nothing but time and 
peace to carry it forward to almost any point of 
advancement. 

In the next place, I take it for granted, tliat the 
policy of this country, springing from the nature of 
our government, and the spirit of all our institutions, 
is, so far as it respects the interesting questions 
which agitate the present age, on the side of liberal 
and enlightened sentiments. The age is extraordi- 
nary; the spirit that actuates it, is peculiai* and 
marked ; and our own relation to the times we live 
in, and to the questions which interest them, is 
equally marked and peculiar. We are placed, 
by our good fortune, and the wisdom and valour 
of our ancestors, in a condition in which we can 
act no obscure part. Be it for honour, or be 
it for dishonour, whatever we do, is not likely to 
escape the observation of the world. As one of 
ttie free states among the nations, as a great and 
rapidly rising Republic, it would be impossible for 
us, if we were so disposed, to prevent our principles, 



10 

our sentiments, and our example, from producing 
some effect upon the opinions and hopes of society 
throughout the civilized world. It rests probably 
^vith ourselves to determine, whether the influence 
of these shall be salutary or pernicious. 

It cannot be denied that the great political question 
of this age, is, that between absolute and regulated 
governments. The substance of the controversy is, 
whether society shall have any part in its own gov- 
ernment. Whether the form of government shall be 
that of limited monarchy, with more or less mixture 
of hereditary power, or wholly elective, or represen- 
tative, may perhaps be considered as subordinate. 
The main controversy is between that absolute rule, 
which, while it promises to govern well, means 
nevertheless to govern without control, and that regu- 
lated or constitutional system, which restrains sove- 
reign discretion, and asserts that society may claim, 
as matter of right, some effective power in the estab- 
lishment of the laws which are to regulate it. The 
spirit of the times sets with a most powerful current, 
in favour of these last mentioned opinions. It is op- 
posed, however, whenever and wherever it shows 
itself, by certain of the great potentates of Europe 5 
and it is opposed on grounds as applicable in one 
civilized nation as in another, and which would 
justify such opposition in relation to the United 
States, as well as in relation to any other state, or 
nation, if time and circumstance should render such 
opposition expedient. 

What part it becomes this country to take on a 
question of this sort, so far as it is called upon to 
take any part, cannot be doubtful. Our side of this 



11 

question is settled for us, even without our own vo«^ 
litioii. Our history, our situation, our character, 
necessarily decide our position and our course, before 
we have even time to ask whether we have an op- 
tion. Our place is on the side of free institutions. From 
the earliest settlement of these states, their inhabitants 
were accustomed, in a greater or less degree, to the en- 
joyment of the powers of self-government ; and for the 
last half century, they have sustained systems of 
government entirely representative, yielding to them- 
selves the greatest possible prosperity, and not leav- 
ing them without distinction and respect among the 
nations of the earth. This system we are not likely 
to abandon ; and while we shall no farther recom- 
mend its adoption to other nations, in whole or in 
part, than it may recommend itself by its visible in- 
fluence on our own growth and prosperity, we are, 
nevertheless, interested, to resist the establishment of 
doctrines which deny the legality of its foundations. 
We stand as an equal among nations, claiming the 
full benefit of the established international law ; and 
it is our duty to oppose, from the earlie^o the latest 
moment, any innovations upon that code, which shall 
bring into doubt or question our own equal and inde- 
pendent rights. 

1 will now, Mr. Chairman, advert to those pre- 
tensions, put forth by the Allied Sovereigns of con- 
tinental Europe, which seem to me calculated, if un- 
resisted, to bring into disrepute the principles of our 
governmeftt, and indeed to be wholly incompatible 
with any degree of national independence. I do not 
introduce these considerations for the sake of topics. 
I am not about to declaim against crowned heads. 



is 

nor to qnarrel witli any country for preferring a form 
of government different from our own. The choice 
that we exercise for ourselves, I am quite willing to 
leave also to others. But it appears to me that the 
pretensions of which I have spoken, are wholly in- 
consistent with the independence of nations generally, 
without regard to the question, whether their govern- 
ments be absolute, monarchical and limited, or purely 
popular and representative. I have a most deep and 
thorough conviction, that a new era has arisen in the 
world, that new and dangerous combinations are 
taking place, promulgating doctrines, and fraught 
with consequences, wholly subversive, in their ten- 
dency, of the public law of nations, and of the gen- 
eral liberties of mankind. Whether this be so, or 
Hot, is the question which I now propose to examine^ 
upon such grounds of information, as the common 
and public means of knowledge disclose. 

Every body knows that, since the final restoration 
of the Bourbons to the throne of France, the conti- 
nental poWers have entered into sundry alliances, 
which havcSfteen made public, and have held several 
meetings or Congresses, at which the principles of their A 
political conduct have been declared. These things 
must necessarily have an effect upon the international 
law of the states of the w.>rld. If that effect be good^ 
and according to tlie principles of that law, they de- 
serve to be applauded. If, on the contrary, their ef- 
fect and tendency be most dangerous, their princi- 
ples wholly inadmissible, their pretensions such a& 
would abolish every degree of national indepen- 
dence, then they are to be resisted. 



13 

I begin, Mr. Chairman, by drawing yoiir atten- 
tion to the treaty, concluded at Paris in September. 
1815f, between Russia, Prussia, and Austria, common- 
ly called the Holy Alliance. This singular alliance 
appears to have originated with the Emperor of 
Russia ; for we are informed that a draft of it was 
exhibited by him, personally, to a plenipotentiary of 
one of ih^ great powers of Europe, before it was 
presented to the other sovereigns who ultimately 
signed it.* This instrument professes nothing, 
certainly, which is not extremely commendable and 
praiseworthy. It promises only that t!ie contract- 
ing parties, both in relation to other states, and in 
regard to their own subjects, will observe the rules 
of justice and Christianity. In confirmation of these 
promises, it makes the most solemn and devout reli- 
gious invocations. Now, although such an alliance 
is a novelty in European history, the world seems to 
have received this treaty, upon its first promulgation, 
with general charity. It was commonly understood 
as little or nothing more than an expression of 
thanks for the successful termination of the momen- 
tous contest, in which those sovereigns had been en- 
gaged. It still seems somewhat unaccountable, how- 
ever, that these good resolutions should require to 
be confirmed by treaty. '^Yho doubted that these 
august sovereigns would treat each other with justice^ 
and rule their own subjects in mercy ? And what ne- 
cessity was there, for a solemn stipulation by treatj% 

♦ Vide Lord Castlereagli*s Speech in the House of Commons, February 
a, 1816. Debates in Parliament, rot 36, pgge 355 ; where aho the TT&n^r 
may be found at length. 



to ensure the performance of that, which is no more 
than the ordinary duty of every government ? It 
would hardly be admitted by these sovereigns, that^ 
by this compact, they suppose themselves bound to 
introduce an entire change, or any change, in the 
course of their own conduct. Notliing substantially 
new, certainly, can be supposed to have been intend- 
ed. What principle, or what practice, therefore, 
called for this solemn declaration of the intention of 
the parties to observe the rules of religion and justice? 

It is not a little remarkable, that a writer of repu- 
tation upon the Public Law, described, many years 
ago, not inaccurately, the character of this alliance : 
I allude to Puffendorff. ^' It seems useless,'' says 
he, " to frame any pacts or leagues, barely for the 
defence and support of universal peace ; for, by such 
a league, nothing is superadded to the obligation of 
natural law, and no agreement is made for the per^ 
formance of any thing, which the parties were no^ 
previously bound to perform ; nor is the original obli- 
gation rendered firmer or stronger by such an addi- 
tion. Men of any tolerable culture and civilization, 
might well be ashamed of entering into any such com- 
pact, the conditions of which imply only that the parties 
concerned shall not offend in any clear point of duty. 
Besides, we should be guilty of great irreverence to- 
wards God, should we suppose that his injunctions 
had not already laid a sufficient obligation upon us 
to act justly, unless we ourselves voluntarily con- 
sented to the same engagement : as if our obligation 
to obey his will, depended upon our own pleasure. 

" If one engage to serve another, he does not set 
it down expressly and particularly among the terms 



15 

aud conditions of the bargain, that he will not be- 
tray nor murder him, nor pillage nor burn his house. 
For the same reason, that would be a dishonourable 
engagement, in which men should bind themselves 
to act properly and decently, and not break the 
peace."* 

Such were the sentiments of that eminent writer. 
How nearly he had anticipated the case of the Holy 
Alliance, will appear from comparing his observa- 
tions with the preamble to that alliance, which is as 
follows : 

" In the name of the most Holy and Indivisible 
Trinity, their M ajesties the Emperor of Austria, th^ 
King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia," — 
^•' solemnly declare, that the present act has no other 
object than to publish, in the face of the whole world, 
their fixed resolution, both in the administration of 
their respective states, and in their political relations 
with every other government, to take for their sole 
guide the precepts of that holy religion, namely, the 
precepts of justice. Christian charity, %nd peace, 
which, far from being applicable only to private con- 
cerns, must have an immediate influence on the coun- 
cils of princes, and guide alHheir steps, as being the 
only means of consolidating human institutions, and 
remedying their imperfections." 

This measure, however, appears principally im- 
portant, as it was the first of a series, and was fol- 
lowed afterwards by others of a more direct and 
practical nature. These measures, taken together, 
profess to establish two principles, which the Allied 

* Book 2, cap. 2. 



16 

Powers would enforce as a part of the law of the 
civilized world, and the enforcement of which is 
menaced by a million and a half of bayonets. 

The first of these principles is, that all popular, or 
constitutional rights, arc holden no otherwise than a« 
grants from the crown. Society, upon this principle, 
has no rights of its own ; it takes good government, 
when it gets it, as a boon and a concession, but can 
demand nothing. It is to live in that favour which 
emanates from royal authority, and if it have the 
misfortune to lose that favour, there is nothing to 
protect it against any degree of injustice and oppres- 
sion. It can rightfully make no endeavour for a 
change, by itself ; its whole privilege is to receive 
the favours that may be dispensed by the sovereign 
power, and all its duty is described in the single 
word, suhmission. This is the plain result of the 
principal continental state papers ; indeed it is nearly 
the identical text of some of them. 

The Laybach circulai-of May, 1821, alleges, ^Uhat 
useful and Accessary changes in legislation and ad- 
ministration, ought only to emanate from the free will 
and intelligent conviction of those whom God has 
rendered responsible for power; all that deviates 
from this line necessarily leads to disorder, commo- 
tions, and evils, far more insufferable than those which 
they pretend to remedy."* Now, Sir, this princi- 
ple would carry Europe back again, at once, into the 
middle of the dark ages. It is the old doctrine of 
the divine right of kings, advanced now, by new 
advocates, and sustained by a formidable mass of 

♦ Annual Register, for 1821. 



*7 
power. That the people hold their fundainentai 
privileges^ as matter of concession, or indulgencey 
from the sovereign power, is a sentiment not easy to 
diffuse in this age, any farther than it is enforced by 
the direct operation of military means. It is true, 
certainly, that some six centuries ago, the early found- 
ers of English liberty called the instrument which 
secured their rights a Charter; it was, indeed, a 
concession ; they had obtained it, sword in hand, 
from the king ; and, in many other cases, whatever 
was obtained, favourable to human rights, from the 
tyranny and despotism of the feudal sovereigns, was 
called by the names of privileges and liberties, as 
being matter of special favour. And, though we re- 
tain this language at the present time, the principle 
itself belongs to ages that have long passed by us. 
The civilized world has done with the enormous 
faith of many made for one. Society asserts its own 
rights, and alleges them to be original, sacred, and 
unalienable. It is not satisfied with having kind mas- 
ters ; it demands a participation in its own govern- 
ment : and, in states much advanced in civilization, 
it urges this demand with a constancy and an energy, 
that cannot well, nor long, be resisted. There are, 
happily, enough of regulated governments in the 
world, and those among the most distinguished, to 
operate as constant examples, and to keep alive an 
unceasing panting in the bosoms of men, for the en- 
joyment of similar free institutions. 

When the English revolution of 1688 took place, 
the English people did not content themselves with 
the example of liunnymede ; they did not build their 
hopes upon royal charters 5 they did not, like the 



JT ^—^ 



18 

Labach circular, suppose that all useful changes in 
constitutions and laws must proceed from those 
only whom God has rendered responsible for power. 
They were somewhat better instructed in the prin- 
ciples of civil liberty, or at least they were better 
lovers of those principles, than the sovereigns of Lay- 
bach. Instead of petitioning for charters, they de- 
clared their rights^ and, while they offered to the 
family of Orange the crown with one hand^ they 
held in the other an enumeration of those privileges 
which they did not orofess to hold as favours, but 
which they demanded and insisted upon^ as their un- 
doubted rights. 

1 need not stop to observe, Mr. Chairman, how 
totally hostile are these doctrines of Laybach, to the 
fundamental principles of our government. They 
are in direct contradiction : the principles of good 
and evil are hardly more opposite. If these princi- 
ples of the sovereigns be true, we are but in a state 
of rebellion, or of anarcliy, and are only tolera- 
ted among civilized states, because it has not yet 
been convenient to conform us to the true standard. 

But the second, and, if possible, the still more ob- 
jectionable principle, avowed in these papers, is the 
right of forcible interference in the affairs of other 
states. A right to control nations in their desire to 
change their own government, wherever it may be 
conjectured, or pretended, that such change might 
furnish an example to the subjects of other states, is 
plainly and distinctly asserted. The same Congrcsi 
that made the declaration at Laybach, had declared, 
before its removal from Troppau, ^^ that the powers 
have an undoubted right to take a hostile attitude in 



regard to those states in which the overthrow of the 
government may operate as an example.'^ 

There cannot, as I think, be conceiverl a more 
flagrant violation of public law, or national independ- 
ence, than is contained in this declaration. 

No matter what be the character of the govern- 
ment resisted ; no matter with what weight the foot 
©f the oppressor bears on the neck of the oppressed ; 
if he struggle, or if he complain, he sets a dangerous 
example of resistance,— and from that moment he 
becomes an object of hostility to the most power- 
ful potentates of the earth. I want words to ex- 
press my abhorrence of this abominable principle. 
I trust every enlightened man throughout the world 
will oppose it, and that, especially, those who, like 
ourselves, are fortunately out of the reach of the bay- 
onets that enforce it, will proclaim their detestation 
of it, in a tone both loud and decisive. The avow- 
ed object of such declarations is to preserve the 
peace of the world. But by what means is it pro- 
posed to preserve this peace ? Simply, by bringing 
the power of all governments to bear against all sub- 
jects. Here is to be established a sort of double, 
or treble, or quadruple, or, for aught I know, a quin- 
tuple allegiance. An offence against one king if 
to be an offence against all kings, and the power of 
all is to be put forth for the punishment of the offen- 
der. A right to interfere in extreme cases, in the 
case of contiguous states, and where imminent dan- 
ger is threatened to one by what is transpiring in 
another, is not without precedent in modern times, 
upon what has been called the law of vicinage ; and 
when confined to extreme cases, and limited to a ceT^ 



tain extent, it may perhaps be defended upon prin- 
ciples of necessity* and self-defence. But to maintain 
that sovereigns may go to war upon the subjects of 
another state to repress an example, is monstrous 
indeed. What is to be the limit to such a principle^ 
or to the practice growing out of it ? What, in any 
case, but sovereign pleasure is to decide whether the 
example be good or bad ? And what, under the 
operation of such rule, may be thought of our exam- 
pie P Why are we not as fair objects for the opera- 
tion of the new principle, as any of those who may 
attempt to reform the condition of their government, 
on the other side of the Atlantic ? 

The ultimate effect of this alliance of sovereigns, 
for objects personal to themselves, or respecting only 
the permanence of their own power, must be the de- 
struction of all just feeling, and all natural sympa- 
thy, between those who exercise the power of go- 
vernment and those who are subject to it. The old 
channels of mutual regard and confidence are to be 
dried up, or cut off. Obedience can now be expect- 
ed no longer than it is enforced. Instead of relying 
on the affections of the governed, sovereigns are to 
rely on the affections and friendsliip of other sove- 
reigns. There are, in short, no longer to be nations. 
Princes and people no longer are to unite for inter- 
ests common to them both. There is to be an end 
of all patriotism, as a distinct national feeling. So- 
ciety is to be divided horizontally ; all sovereigns 
above, and all subjects below ; the former coalescing 
for their own security, and for the more certain sub- 
jection of the undistinguished multitude beneath. 
This, Sir, is no picture, drawn by imagination. I 



SI 

have hardly used language stronger than that hi 
which the authors of this new system have comment- 
ed on their own work. Mr. Chateaubriand, in his 
speech in the French Chamber of Deputies, in Feb- 
ruary last, declared, that he had a conference with 
the Emperor of Russia at Verona, in which that an- 
gust sovereign uttered sentiments which appeared to 
him so precious, that he immediately hastened home, 
and wrote them down while yet freshen his recollec- 
tion. '^ The Emperor declare d^^^ said he, " that 
there can no longer he such a thing as an English^ 
French, Russian, Prussian, or Austrian policy: 
there is henceforth but one policy, which, for the 
safety of all, should he adopted both by people and 
Icings, It was for me first to show myself convinced 
of the principles upon which I founded the alliance; 
an occasion offered itself ; the rising in Greece^ 
J\'*othing certainly could occur more for my inter- 
ests, for the interests of my people ; nothing more ac* 
eeptable to my country, than a religious war in Tur^ 
key : hut I have thought I perceived in the troubles 
of the Morea, the sign of revolution, and I have 
held back. Providence has not put under my com- 
mand 800,000 soldiers, to satisfy my ambition, but to 
protect religion, morality, and justice, and to secure 
the prevalence of those principles of order on which 
human society rests. It may well be permitted that 
Icings may have public alliances to defend themselves 
against secret enemies.'^ 

These, Sir, are the words which the French minis- 
ter thought so important as that they deserved to be 
recorded ; and I, too, Sir, am of the same opinion. 
But, if it be true that there is hereafter to be nei- 



thcr a Russian policy, nor a Prussian policy, Hor an 
Austrian policy, nor a French policy, nor even, 
which yet I will not believe, an English policy ; 
there will be, 1 trust in God, an American policy. 
If the authority of all these governments be hereafter 
to be mixed and blended, and to flow in one aug- 
mented current of prerogative, over the face of Eu- 
rope, sweeping away all resistance in its course, it 
will yet remain for us to secure our own happiness, 
by the preservation of our own principles ; which I 
hope we «hall have the manliness to express on all 
proper occasions, and the spirit to defend in every 
extremity. The end and scope of this amalgama- 
ted policy is neither more nor less than this : — to in- 
terfere, by force^ for any government, against any 
people who may resist it. Be the state of the peo- 
ple what it may, they shall not rise ; be the govern- 
ment what it will, it shall not be opposed. The 
practical commentary has corresponded with the plain 
language of the text. Look at Spain, and at Greece. 
If men may not resist the Spanish inquisition, and 
the Turkish scimitar, what is there to which hu- 
manity must not submit ? Strongei* cases can never 
arise. Is it not proper for us, at all times — is it not 
our duty, at this time, to come forth, and deny, and 
condemn, these monstrous principles. Where, but 
here, and in one other place, are they likely to be re- 
sisted ? They are advanced with equal coolness and 
boldness ; and they are supported by immense power. 
The timid will shrink and give way — and many of 
the brave may be compelled to yield to force. Hu- 
man liberty may yet, perhaps, be obliged to repose its 
principal hopes on the intelligence and the vigour of 



the Saxon race. As far as depends on us, at leaat^ 
I trust those hopes will not be disappointed; and that^ 
to the extent which may consist with our own settled, 
pacific policy, our opinions and sentiments may 
be brought to act, on the right side, and to the right 
«nd, on an occasion which is, in truth, nothing less 
than a momentous question between an intelligent 
age, full of knowledge, thirsting for improvement, 
and quickened by a thousand impulses, and the most 
arbitrary pretensions, sustained by unprecedented 
power. 

This asserted right of forcible intervention, in the 
affairs of other nations, is in open violation of the 
public law of the world. Who has authorized these 
learned doctors of Troppau, to establish new articles 
in this code ? Whence are their diplomas ? Is the 
whole world expected to acquiesce in principles, 
which entirely subvert the independence of nations ? 
On the basis of this independence has been reared the 
beautiful fabric of international law. On the princi- 
ple of this independence, Europe has seen a family 
of nations, flourishing within its limits, the small 
among the large, protected not always by power, but 
by a principle above power, by a sense of propriety 
and justice. On this principle the great common- 
wealth of civilized states has been hitherto upheld. 
There have been occasional departures, or viola* 
tions, and always disastrous, as in the case of Po- 
land ; but, in general, the harmony of the system has 
been wonderfully preserved. In the production and 
preservation of this sense of justice, this predominat- 
ing principle, the Christian religion has acted a main 
part. Christianity and civilization have laboured 



S4< 

together ; it seems, indeed, to be a law of our bumaii 
condition, that they can live and flourish only to- 
gether. From their blended influence has arisen 
that delightful spectacle of the prevalence of reason 
and principle, over power and interest, so well de- 
scribed by one who was an honour to the age — 

** And sovereign Za-w;, the world's collected will, 

O'er thrones and globes elate, 
Sits Empress — crowning good, repressing ill : 

Smit by her sacred frown. 
The fiend, Diacretion, like a vapour, sinks, 

And e*en the all-dazzling crown 
Hides his faint r^ys, and at her bidding shrinks.'* 

But this vision is past. While the teachers of Lay. 
bach give the rule, there will be no law but the law 
of the strongest. 

It may now be required of me to show what inter- 
est we have, in resisting this new system. What is 
it to us, it may be asked, upon what principles, or 
what pretences, the European governments assert a 
right of interfering in the affairs of their neigh- 
bours ? The thunder, it may be said, rolls at a dis- 
tance. The wide Atlantic is between us and dan- 
ger ; and, however others may suffer, we shall re- 
main safe. 

I think it a sufficient answer to this, to say, that 
we are one of the nations ; that we have an interest, 
therefore, in the preservation of that system of nation- 
al law and national intercourse, which has heretofore 
subsisted, so beneficially for all. Our system of 
government, it should also be remembered, is, 
throughout, founded on principles utterly hostile to 
the new code ; and, if we remain undisturbed by 
its operation, we shall owe our security, either to our 



^5 

tsituaiiou or our spirit. The enterprising character 
of the a^-e, our own active commercial spirit, the 
great increase which has taken place in the inter- 
course between civilized and commercial statesj have 
necessarily connected us with the nations of the earthy 
and given us a high concern in the preservation of 
those salutary principles, upon which that intercourse 
is founded. We have as clear an interest in interna- 
tional law, as individuals have in the laws of society. 
But, apart from the soundness of the policy, on 
(he ground of direct interest, we have, Sir, a duty, 
connected with this subject, which, I trust, we are 
willing to perform What do zt'e not owe to the 
cause of civil and religious liberty? to the principle 
of lawful resistance? to the. principle that society 
has a right to partake in its own government ? As 
the leading Republic of the world, living and breath- 
ing in these principles, and advanced, by their opera- 
tion, with unequalled rapidit}^, in our career, shall we 
give our consent to bring them into disrepute and 
disgrace ? It is neither ostentation nor boasting, to 
say, that there lie before this country, in immediate 
prospect, a great extent and height of power. We 
are borne along towards this, without effort, and not 
always even with a full knowledge of the rapidity of 
our own motion. Circumstances which never com- 
bined before, have combined in our favour^ and a 
mighty current is setting us forward, which we could 
not resist, even if we would, and which, while we 
would stop to make an observation, and take the 
sun, has set us, at the end of the operation, far in 
advance of the place where we commenced it. Does 
U not become us, then^ is it not a duty imposed on us, 



to give our weight to the side of liberty and justia 
to let mankind know that we are not tired of our own 
institutions — and to protest against the asserted power 
of altering, at pleasure, the law of the civilized 
world ? 

But, whateve r we do, in this respect, it becomes 
us to do upon clear and consistent principles. There 
is an important topic in the Message, to which 1 have 
yet hardly alluded. 1 mean the rumoured combina- 
tion of the European continental sovereigns, against 
the new established free states of South America. 
Wliatever position this government may take- on 
that subject, I trust it will be one which can be de- 
fended, on known and acknowledged grounds of 
right. The near approach, or the remote distance of 
danger, may affect policy, but cannot change princi- 
ple. The same reason that would authorize us to 
protest against unwarrantable combinations to inter- 
fere between Spain and her former colonies, would 
authorize us equally to protest, if the same combina- 
tion were directed against the smallest state in Eu- 
rope, although our duty to ourselves, our policy, and 
wisdom, might indicate very different courses, as 
fit to be pursued by us in the two cases. We shall 
not, I trust, act upon the notion of dividing the world 
with the Holy Alliance, and complain of nothing done 
by them in their hemisphere, if they will not interfere 
with ours. At least this would not be such a course 
of policy as 1 could recommend or support. We 
have not offended, and, I hope, we do not intend to 
offend, in regard to South America, against any 
principle of national independence or of public law. 
We have done nothing, we shall do nothing, that 



S7 

we need to bush up or to compromise, by forbearing 
to express our sympathy for the cause of the Greeks, 
or our opinion of the course which other governments 
have adopted in regard to them. 

It may, in the next place, be asked, perhaps, sup- 
posing all this to be true, what can we do ? Are we 
to go to war ? Are we to interfere in the Greek 
cause, or any other European cause ? Are we to 
endanger our pacific relations ? — >io, certainly not. 
What, then, the question recurs, remains for us? If 
we will not endanger our own peace ; if we will 
neither furnish armies, nor navies, to the cause which 
we think the just one, what is there within our pnwer ? 

Sir, this reasoning mistakes the age. The time 
has been, indeed, when fleets, and armies, and sub- 
sidies, were the principal reliances even in the best 
cause. But, happily for mankind, there has come a 
great change in this respect. Moral causes come 
into consideration, in proportion as the progress of 
knowledge is advanced; 2inA i\\^ public opinion (yi 
the civilized world is rapidly gaining an ascendency 
over mere brutal force. It is already able to oppose 
the most formidable obstruction to the progress of in- 
justice and oppression ; and, as it grows more intel- 
ligent and more intense, it will be more and more 
formidable. It may be silenced by military power, 
but it cannot be conquered. It is elastic, irrepressi- 
ble, and invulnerable to the weapons of ordinary 
warfare. It is that impassible, unextinguishable ene- 
my of mere violence and arbitrary rule, which, like 
Milton'fi angels, 

** Vital in every part, 
" Cannot, bat by annihilating, die." 



tJntil this be propitiated or satisfied, it is tmi 
for power to talk either of triumphs or of repose. 
;No matter what fields are desolated, what fortresses 
surrendered, what armies subdued, or what pro- 
vinces overrun. In the history of the year that h-is 
passed by us, and in the instance of unhappy bpain, 
ive have seen the vanity of all triumphs, in a cause 
which violates the general sense of justice of the civ- 
ilized world. It is nothing, that the troops of France 
have passed from the Pyrenees to Cadiz : it is no- 
thing that an unhappy and prostrate nation has 
fallen before them ; it is nothing that arrests, and con- 
fiscation, and executian, sweep away the little rem- 
nant of national resistince. There is an enemy that 
still exists to check the gloi^y of these triumphs. It 
follows the conqueror back to the very scene of his 
ovations ; it calls upon him to take notice that Eu- 
rope, though silent, is yet indignant ; it shows him 
that the sceptre of his victory is a barren sceptre ; that 
it shall confer neither joy nor honour, bul shall 
moulder to dry ashes in his grasp. In the midst of 
his exultation, it pierces bis ear with the cry of in- 
jured justice, it denounces against him the indigna- 
tion of an enlightened and civilized age ; it turns i& 
bitterness the cup of his rejoicing, and wounds him 
with the sting which belongs to the consciousness 
of having outraged the opinion of mankind. 

In my own opinion, Sir, the Spanish nation is now 
nearer, not only in point of time, but in point of cir- 
cumstance, to the acquisition of a regulated govern- 
ment, than at the moment of the French invasion. 
Nations must, no doubt, undergo these trials in their 
progress to the establishment of free institutions. The 



very trials benefit them, and render them more capa- 
ble both of obtaining and of enjoying the object 
which they seek. 

I shall not detain the Committee, Sir, by laying 
before it any statistical, geographical, or commercial 
account of Greece. I have no knowledge on these 
subjects, which is not common to all. It is univer- 
sally admittt^d, that, within the last thirty or forty 
years, tlie condition of dreece has been greatly im- 
proved. Her marine is at present respectable, con- 
taining the best sailors in the Mediterranean, better 
even, in that sea, than our own, as more accustomed 
to the long quarantines, and other regulations which 
prevail in its ports. The number of her seamen has 
been estimated as high as 50,000, but I suppose that 
estimate must be much too large. They have pro- 
bably li50,000 tons of shipping. It is not easy to 
state an accurate account of Grecian population. The 
Turkish government does not trouble itself with any 
of the calculations of political economy, and there 
has never been such a thing as an accurate census, 
probably, in any part of the Turkish empire. In the 
absence of all official information, private opinions 
widely differ. By the tables w hich have been com- 
municated, it would seem that there are 2,400,000 
Greeks in Greece proper and the Islands; an amount, 
as I am inclined to think, somewhat overrated. There 
are, probably, in the whole of European Turkey, 
5,000,000 Greeks, and 2,000,000 more in the Asi- 
atic dominions of that power. The moral and intel- 
lectual progress of this numerous population, under 
the horrible oppression which crushes it, has been 
such as may well excite regard. Slaves, under bar- 



barous masters, the Greeks have still aspired after 
the blessings of knowledge and civilization. Before 
the breaking out of the present revolution, they had 
established schools, and colleges, and libraries, and 
the press. Wherever, as in Scio, owing to particu- 
lar circumstances, the weight of oppression was miti- 
gated, the natural vivacity of the Greeks, and their 
aptitude for the arts, were discovered. Though cer* 
tainly not on an equality with the civilized and Chris, 
tian states of Europe, and how is it possible under 
such oppression as they endured that they should be? 
they yet furnished a striking contrast with their 
Tartar masters. It has been well said, that it is 
not easy to form a just conception of the nature of the 
despotism exercised over them. Conquest and sub- 
jugation, as used among European states, are inade- 
quate modes of expression by which to denote the 
dominion of the Turks. A conquest, in the civilized 
world, is generally no more than an acquisition of a 
new part to the conquering country. It does not 
imply a never-ending bondage imposed upon the 
conquered, a perpetual mark, and opprobrious dis- 
tinction between them and their masters ; a bitter 
and unending persecution of their religion ; an ha- 
bitual violation of their rights of person and proper- 
ty, and the unrestrained indulgence towards them, 
of every passion which belongs to the character of a 
barbarous soldiery. Yet, such is the state of Greece. 
The Ottoman power over them, obtained originally 
by the sword, is constantly preserved by the same 
means. Wherever it exists, it is a mere military 
power. The religious and civil code of the state, 
being both fixed in the Alcoran, and equally the ob- 



81 

ject of an ignorant and furious faith, have been found 
equally incapable of change. "The Turk," it has 
been said, " has been encamped in Europe for four 
centuries." He has hardly any more participation 
in European manners, knowledge, and arts, than 
when he crossed the Bosphorus. But this is not the 
worst of it. The power of the empire is fallen 
into anarchy, and as the principle which belongs to 
the head belongs also to the parts, there are as many 
despots as there are pachas, beys, and visiers. 
Wars are almost perpetual, between the sultan and 
some rebellious governor of a province ; and in the 
conflict of these despotisms, the people are necessarily 
ground between the upper and the nether millstone. 
In short, the Christian subjects of the sublime Porte, 
feel daily all the miseries which flow from despot-' 
ism, from anarchy, from slavery, and from religious 
persecution. If any thing yet remains to heighten 
such a picture, let it be added, that every office in the 
government is not only actually, but professedly, ve- 
nal ; — the pachalics, the visierates, the cadiships, and 
whatsoever other denomination may denote the de- 
positary of power. In the whole world, Sir, there 
is no such oppression felt^ as by the Christian 
Greeks. In various parts of India, to be sure, the 
government is bad enough ; but then it is the govern- 
ment of barbarians over barbarians, and the - feeling 
of oppression is, of course, not so keen. There tli& 
oppressed are perhaps not better than their oppres- 
sors ; but in the case of Greece, there are millions of 
Christian men, not without knowledge, not w ithout 
refinement, not without a strong thirst for all the 
pleasures of civilized life, trampled into the very 



earth, century after century, by a pillaging, savage, 
relentless isoldiery. Sir, the case is unique. There 
exists, and has existed, nothing like it. The world 
has no such misery to show ; there is no case ia 
which Christian communities can be called upon, 
with such emphasis of appeal. 

But I have said enough, Wr. rhairniau, indeed 
I need have said notning o satisfy the House, that 
it must be some new combination of circumstances, 
or new views of policy in the cabinets of Europe, 
w^hlch have caused this interesting strags;le not mere- 
ly to be regarded vvitii indi^cr^? ce, but to be mark- 
ed with opprobrium. Tite very statement of ihQ 
case, as a contest between the Turks and Greeks, 
sufficiently indicates what must be the feeling of 
every individual, and every government, that is not 
biassed by a particular interest, or a particular feel- 
ing, to disregard the dictates of jjistice and humanity. 

And now, Hir, what has been the conduct pursued 
by the Allied Powers, in regard to this contest ? 
When the revolution broke out, the sovereigns were 
in Congress at Laybach ; and the papers of that 
assembly sufficiently manifest their sentiments. They 
proclaimed their abhorrence of those ^' criminal 
combinations wliich had been formed in the eastern 
parts of Europe ;" and, although it is possible that 
this denunciation was aimed, more particularly, at 
the disturbances in the provinces of Wallachia and 
Moldavia, yet no exception is made, from its general 
terms, in favour of those events in Greece, which 
were properly the commencement of her revolution, 
and which could not but be well known at Laybach, 
before the date of these declarations. Now it must be 



33 

remembered^ that Russia was a leading party in this 
denunciation of tlie efforts of the Greeks to achieve 
their liberation ; and it cannot but be expected by 
Rnssia that the world sball also remember what part 
she herself bas heretofore acted, in the same concern. 
It is notorious, that within the last half century she 
has again and again, excited the Greeks to rebellion 
against the Porte, and tbat she has constantly kept 
alive in them the hope that she would, one day, by 
her own great power, break the yoke of their oppres- 
sor. Indeed, the earnest attention with which Rus- 
sia has regarded Greece, goes much farther back than 
to the time 1 have mentioned. Ivan the third, in 
1483, having espoused a Grecian princess^ bdress 
of the last Greek emperor, discarded f^t. George 
from the Russian arms, and adopted in its stead the 
Greek two-headed black eagle, which has continued 
in the Russian arms to the present day. In virtue 
of the same marriage^ the Russian princes claimed 
the Greek throne a.s their inheritance. 

Under Peter the Great, the policy of Russia de- 
veloped itself more fully. In 1696, he rendered 
himself master of Azoph, and in 1698, obtained 
the right to pass the Dardanelles, and to maintain, 
by that route, commercial intercourse with the Medi- 
terranean. He had emissaries throughout Greece, 
and particularly applied himself to gain the clergy. 
He adopted the Labarum of Constantine, " In hoc 
signo vinces;^' and medals were struck, with 
the inscription, '^ Petriis I, liiisso-Grcecorum Im- 
perator.^^ In whatever new direction the principles of 
the Holy Alliance may now lead the politics of Rus- 
sia, or whatever course she may suppose Christian- 



3^ 

ity now prescribes to her, in regard to the Greek cause^ 
the time has been when she professed to be conteiid- 
ing for that cause, as identified with Christian- 
ity. The white banner under which thx soldiers of 
Peter the first usually fought, bore, as its inscription^ 
^' In the n hup of the Prince, and for our country.^^ 
Rehing on the aid of the Greeks, in his war with 
the Porte, he changed the white flag to red, and dis- 
played on it the v\ords, " In the name of God, and 
for ChristiavityP 1 he unfortunate issue of tliis. 
war is well known. Though Anne and Flizabetlv 
the successors of Peter, did not possess his active 
character, they kept up a constant communication 
wiil^ jjrreece, and hehl out hopes of restoring the 
Greek empire. Catharine the second, as is well 
known, excited a general revolt in 1/69. A. 
Russian fleet appeared in tlie Mediterranean, and a 
Russian army ^vas landed in the Morea. TJie 
(jr reeks in the end were disgusted by being required 
to take an oath of allegiance to Russia, and the em- 
press was disgusted because tliey refused to take it. 
In i77'l> peace was signed between Russia and the 
Porte, and the Greeks of the Morea weve left to 
their fate. By this treaty the Porte acknowledged 
the independence of the khan of the Crimea; a 
preliminary step to the acquisition of that country by 
Russia. It is not unworthy of remark, as a cir- 
cumstance which distinguished this from most other 
diplomatic transactions, that it conceded the right to 
the cabinet of St. Petersburg, of intervention in the 
interior affairs of Turkey, in regard to whatever 
concerned the religion of the Greeks. The cruelties 
and massacres that happened to the Greeks after th* 



35 

peace between Russia and the Porte, not with stand,- 
in^ the general pardon which had been stipulated fot 
them, need not now to be recited. Instead of re* 
tracing the deplorable picture, it is enough to say, 
that in this respect the past is justly reflected in the 
present. The empress soon after invaded and con- 
quered the Crimea, and on one of the gates of Kerson, 
its capital, caused to be inscribed, " The road to 
BifsanthimP ? he present Emperor, on his acces* 
sion to the throne, manifested an intention to adopt 
the policy of Catharine the II. as his own, and tii6 
world has not been right, in all its suspicions, if a 
project for the partition of rurkey did not form a 
part of the negotiations of Napoleon and Alexander 
at Tilsit. 

All tliis course of policy seems suddenly to be 
changed Turkey is no longer regarded, it would 
appear, as an object of partition or acquisition, and 
Greek revolts have, all at once, become, according 
to the declaration of Laybach, " criminal combina- 
tion's.'' The recent congress at Verona exceeded 
its predecessor at Laybach, in its denunciations of 
the Greek struggle. In the circular of the 14th of 
December, 1852, it declared the Grecian resistance to 
the Turkish power to be rash and culpable, and la- 
mented that " the firebrand of rebellion had been 
thrown into the Ottoman empir^.^' This rebuke and 
crimination, we know to have proceeded on those 
settled principles of conduct, which the continental 
powers had prescribed for themselves. The sove- 
reigns saw, as well as others, the real condition of 
the Greeks ; they knew, as well as others, that it was 
most natural and most justifiable, that they should 



36 

ciuleavour, at whatever hazard, to change that condi^ 
tion. They knew, that they, themselves, or at least 
one of them, had more than once urged the Greeks to 
similar eSbrts ; that they, themselves, had thrown the 
same firebrand into the midst of the Ottoman empire. 
And yet, so much does it seem to be their fixed object 
to discountenance Avhatsoever threatens to disturb the 
actual government of any country, that. Christians as 
they were, and allied as they professed to be, for pur- 
poses most important to human happiness and reli- 
gion, they have not hesitated to declare to the world, 
that they have wholly forborne to exercise any com- 
passion to the Greeks, simply because they thought 
that they saw, in the struggles of the Morea, the sign 
of revolution. This, then, is coming to a plain, practi- 
cal result. The Grecian revolution has been discourag- 
ed, discountenanced, and denounced, for no reason but 
because it is a revolution. Independent of all inquiry 
into the reasonableness of its causes, or the enormity 
of the oppression which produced it ; regardless of the 
peculiar claims which Greece possesses upon the civil- 
ized world ; and regardless ofwhat has been their own 
conduct towards her for a century ; regardless of the 
interest of the Christian religion, the sovereigns at 
Verona seized upon the case of the Greek revolu- 
tion, as one above all others calculated to illustrate 
the fixed principles of their policy. The abominable 
rule of the Porte on one side, the valour and the suf- 
ferings of the Christian Greeks on the other, furnish- 
ed a case likely to convince even an incredulous 
world of the sincerity of the professions of the Allied 
Powers. They embraced the occasion, with appa- 
rent ardour 5 and the world, I trust, is satisfied. 



37 

We see here, Mr. Chairman, the direct and actual 
application of that system which I have attempted to 
describe. We sec it in the very case of Greece. We 
learn, authentically and indisputably, that the Allied 
Powers, holding that all changes in legislation and 
administration ought to proceed from kings alone, 
were wholly inexorable to the sufferings of the 
Greeks, and wholly hostile to their success. Now 
it is upon this practical result of the principle of the 
continental powers, that I wish this House to inti- 
mate its opinion. The great question is a question 
of principle. Greece is only the signal instance of 
the application of that principle. If the principle be 
right, if we esteem it conformable to the law of na- 
tions, if we have nothing to say against it, or if we 
deem ourselves unfit to express an opinion on the 
subject, then, of course, no resolution ought to pass. 
If, on the other hand, we see in the declarations of 
the Allied Powers, principles not only utterly hostile 
to our ow a free institutions, but hostile also to the in- 
dependence of all nations, and altogether opposed to, 
the improvement of the condition of human nature ; 
if, in the instance before us, w^e see a most strikiug 
exposition and application of those principles, and if 
we deem our own opinions to be entitled to any 
weight in the estimation of mankind ; then, 1 think, 
it is our duty to adopt some such measure as the pro- 
posed resolution. 

It is wortiiy of observation, Sir, that as early as 
July, 18S1, Baron Strogonoff, the Russian minister 
at Constantinople, represented to the Poriie, that, if the 
undistinguished massacres of the Greeks, both of such 
as were in open resistance, and of those who remain- 



38 

etl patieut in their submission, were contimipd, and 
should become a settled habit, thev w^mki give just 
cause of war against the Porie to all Christian states. 
This was. in 18S1. It was followed, early in the 
next year, by that indescribable enormity, that appal- 
ing monument of barbarian cruelty, the destruction of 
Scio ; a scene I shall not attempt to describe ; a scene 
from which human nature shrinks shudderins: away; 
a scene having hardly a parallel in the history of fall- 
en man. This scene, too, was quickly followed by 
the massacres in Cyprus ; and all these things were 
perfectly known to the Christian powers assembled 
at A^erona. Yet these powers, instead of acting upon 
the case supposed by Haron Sirogonoff, and which, 
one would think, had been tlien fully made out ; 
instead of being moved by any compassion for the 
suiferings of the Greeks ; these powers, these Chris- 
tian powers, rebuke their gallantry, and insult their 
sufferings, by accusing them of " throwing a fire- 
brand into the Ottoman empire." 

Such, Sir, appear to me to be the principles on 
which the continental powers of Europe have agreed 
hereafter to act ; and this, an eminent instance of the 
application of those principles. 

1 shall not detain the Committee, Mr. Chairman, 
by any attempt to recite the events of the Greek strug- 
gle, up to the present time. Its origin may be 
found, doubtless, in that improved state of knowledge, 
w hich, for some years, has been gradually taking plar e^- 
n that country. The emancipation of the Greeks has 
been a subject frequently discussed in modem times. 
They themselves are represented as having a vivid 
remembrance of the distinction of their ancestors, not 



39 

unmixed with an indigaaut feeling, that civilized 
and Christian Europe should not, ere now, have 
aided them in breaking (heir intolerable fetters. 

In 1S1(5, a society was founded in V^ienna, for the 
encouragement of Grecian literature. It was con- 
nected with a similar institution at Athens, and an- 
other in Thessaly, called the *' Gymnasium of Mount 
Pelion." The treasury and gen^eral office of the in^ 
stitution was established at Munich. !No political 
object was avowed by these institutions, probably 
none contemplated. Still, however, they have, no 
doubt, had their eSTect in hastening that condition of 
things, in which the Greeks felt competent to the cs- 
laJ^lishment of their independence. Many young 
men have been, for vears, annually sent to the univer- 
sities in the western states of Kurope for their educa- 
tion ; and, after the general pacification of Europe, 
many military men, discharged from other emplo^^- 
ment, were ready to enter even into so unpromising 
a service as that of the revolutionary Greeks. 

In tS^O, war commenced between the Fiute and 
Ali, the well known paciia of Albania. Diaerecces 
existed also wiili Persia, and with Russia. In 
this state of things, at the beginning of 1851^ 
an insurrection appears to have broken out in Mol- 
davia, under the direction of Alexander Ypsilanii^ 
a well educated soldier, who had been m jor-gene- 
ral iii the Russian service. From his character, and 
the number of those who seemed disposed to join 
him, he was supposed to be countenanced by the 
court of St. Petersburg. This, however, v, as a great 
mistike, which the emperor, then at Laybach, took 
au early opportunity U> rectify. The Porte, it would 



40 

utmi, liowevei> alarmed at these cccuiTences in the 
nortliern provinces, caused search to be made of all 
vessels entering the Black Sea, lest arms or other 
military means should be sent in that manner to the 
insurgents. This proved inconvenient to the com- 
merce of Russia, and caused some unsatisfactory 
correspondence between the two powers. It may be 
worthy of remark, as an exhibition of national cha- 
racter, that, agitated by these appearances of intestine 
commotion, the sultan issued a proclamation, calling 
on all trite musselmans to renounce the pleasures of 
social life, to prepare arms and horses, and to return 
to the manner of their ancestors, the life of the plains. 
Tlse Turk seems to have thought that he had, at last, 
caught som^Hikng of the dangerous contagion of Eu- 
ropean civilization, and that it was necessary to reform 
liis habits, by recurring to the original manners of 
military roving barbarians. 

It was about this time, that is to say, at the com* 
mencement of 18SI, that the Revolution burst out in 
various parts of Greece and the Isles. Circum- 
stances, certaiidy, were not unfiivourable, as one por- 
tion of the Turkisli army was employed in the war 
against Ali Pacha in Albania, and another part in 
the provinces north of the Danube. The Greeks 
soon possessed themselves of the open country of the 
!Morea, and drove tlieir enemy into the fortresses. 
Of these, that of Tripolilza, with the city, fell into 
the hands of the Greeks, in the course of the sum- 
mer. Having after these first movements obtained 
time to breatlie, it became, of course, an early ol)ject 
to establish a government. For this purpose dele- 
gales of the people assembled, under that name 



41 

which describes the assembly in which we our- 
selves sit, that name which " freed the Atlantic," 
a Congress. A writer, who undertakes to render 
to the civilized world that service which was 
once performed by Edmund Burke, I mean the 
compiler of the English Anuual Register, asks, % 
ic/iat authority this assembly could call itself a Con- 
gress. Simply, Sir, by the same authority, by which 
the people of the United States have given the same 
name to their own legislature. We, at least, should 
be naturally inclined to think, not' only as far as 
names, but things also, are concerned, that the 
Greeks could hardly have begun their revolution un- 
der better auspices ; since they have endeavoured to 
render applicable to themselves the general princi- 
ples of our form of government, as well as its name. 
This constitution went into operation at the com- 
mencement of the next year. In the mean time, the 
war with Ali Pacha was ended, he having surren- 
dered, and being afterwards assassinated, by an in- 
stance of treachery and perfidy, which, if it had hap- 
pened elsewhere than under tlie government of the 
Turks, would have deserved notice. The negotia- 
tion with Russia, too, took a turn unfavourable to 
the Greeks. The great point upon which Russia 
insisted, beside the abandonment of the measure of 
searching vessels bound to the Black Sea, was, that 
the Porte should withdraw its armies from the 
neighbourhood of the Russian frontiers ; and the im- 
mediate consequence of this, when effected, was to 
add so mucli more to the disposable force, ready to 
be employed against the Greeks. These events 

seemed to have left the whole force of the Empire. 
F 



4^ 

it fhe coramenceraeiit of 1833, in a condftiou to he 
employed against the Greek rebellion : and, accord- 
ingly, very many anticipated the immediate destruc- 
tion of their cause. The event, however, was order- 
ed otherwise. Where the greatest effort was made, 
it was met and defeated. Entering the Morea with 
an army which seemed capable of bearing down 
all resistance, the Turks were nevertheless defeated 
and driven back, and pursued beyond the isthmus, 
within which, as far as it appears, from that time 
to tfte present, they have not been able to set their 
foot. 

It was in April, of this year, that the destruction 
of Scio took place. That island, a sort of appan- 
age of the Sul.ana mother, enjoyed many privileges 
peculiar to itself. In a population of 130,000 or 
110,000, it had no more than :iOOO or 3000 Turks ; 
indeed, by some accounts, not near as many. The 
absence of these ruffian masters, had, in some degree, 
allowed op|)ovtun!ty for the promotion of knowledge^ 
the accuraulatioti of wealth, and t!ie general cultiva- 
tion of society. Here was the seat of the modern 
Greek literature :' here were libraries, printing 
presses, and other establishments, which indicate 
some advancement in refinement and knowledge. 
Certain of the inhabitants of Samos, it would seem, 
envious of this comparative happiness of Beio, land- 
ed upon the island, in an irregular multitude, for the 
purpose of compelling its inhabitants to make com- 
mon cause with their ctnintrymen against their op- 
pressors. These, being joined by the pe^asantry^ 
m-irched to the city, and drove the Turks into the 
eastle. The Turkish fleet, lately reinforced from 



43 

Egypt, liappened to be in the nei'^hbonring seas, and 
learnin:; these events, landed a force on ti)e island of 
15,000 men. There was nothing to resist such an 
army. These troops immediaiely entered the city, 
and began an indiscriminate massacre. The city 
was fired ; and, in four days, the fire and the sword 
of the Turk, rendered the beautiful Bcio a clotted 
mass of blood and ashes. The details are too shock- 
ing to be recited. Forty thousand women and chil- 
dren, unhappily saved from the general destruction, 
were afterwards sold in the market of Smyrna, and 
sent off into distant and hopeless servitude, pjven 
on tiie wharves of our own cities, it has been said, 
have been sold the utensils of those hearths which 
now exist no longer. Of the whole population 
which I have mentioned, not above 900 persons were 
left living upon the island. 1 will only repeat. Sir, that 
these tragical scenes were as fully known at the Con- 
gress of Verona, as they are now known to us ; and 
it is not too inuch to call on the powers that consti- 
tuted that Congress, in the name of conscience, and 
in the name of humanity, to tell us, if there be no- 
thing even in these unparalleled excesses of Turkish 
barbarity, (o excite a sentiment of compassion ; no- 
thing which they regard as so objectionable as even 
the very idea of popular resistance to power. 

The events of the year which has just passed by, 
as far as they have become known to us, have been 
even more favourable to the Greeks, than those of 
the year preceding. 1 omit all details, as being as 
well known to others as to myself. Suffice it to say^ 
that with no other enemy to contend with, and no di- 
version of his force to other objects, the Porte has not 



44 

been able to calTy the war into tlie Morea ; and tliat^ 
by the last accounts, its armies were acting defen- 
sively in Thessaly. I pass over also the naval en- 
gagements of the Greeks, although that is a mode of 
warfare in which they are calculated to excel, and 
in which they have already performed actions of 
such distinguished skill and bravery, as would draw 
applause upon the best mariners in the world. The 
present state of tlie war would seem to be, that the 
Greeks possess the whole of the Morea, with the ex- 
ception of the three fortresses of Patras, Coron and 
Modon ; all Candia, but one fortress ; and most of 
the other islands. They possess the citadel of 
Athens, Missolunghi, and several other places in 
Livadia. They liave been able to act on the offen- 
sive and to carry the war beyond the istlimus. There 
is no reason to believe their marine is weakened ; 
probably, on the other hand, it is strengthened. But, 
what is most of all important, they have obtained 
time and experience. They have awakened a sym- 
pathy throughout Europe and throughout America : 
and they have formed a government which seems 
suited to the emergency of their condition. 

Sir, they have done much. It would be gi'eat in- 
justice to compare their achievements with our own. 
We began our revolution, already possessed of gov- 
ernment, and, comparatively, of civil liberty. Our 
ancestors had, for centuries, been accustomed in a 
great measure to govern themselves. Tliey were 
well acquainted with popular elections and legisla- 
tive assemblies, and the general principles and prac 
tice of free governments. They had little else to do 
than to throw off the paramount authority of the 



45 

parent state. Enough was still left, both of law and 
of organization, to conduct society in its accustom- 
ed course, and to unite men together for a common 
object. The Greeks, of course, could act with little 
concert at the beginning ; they were unaccustomed to 
the exercise of power, without experience, witfi limit- 
ed knowledge, without aid, and surrounded by na- 
tions, whicli, whatever claims the Greeks might seem 
to have had upon them, have afforded them nothing 
but discouragement and reproach. They have held 
out, however, for three campaigns ; and that, at 
least, is something. Constantinople and the northern 
provinces have sent forth thousands of troops ; — they 
have been defeated. Tripoli, and Algiers, and 
Egypt, have contributed their marine contingents ; — 
they have not kept the ocean. Hordes of Tartars 
have crossed the Bosphorus ; — they have died where 
the Persians died. The poweiful monarchies intlie 
neighbourhood have denounced their cause, and ad- 
monished them to abandon it, and submit to their 
fate. They have answered them, that, altJiough two 
hundred tliousand of their countrymen have offered 
up their lives, there yet remain lives to offer ; and 
that it is the determination of all, " yes, of all,^' to 
persevere until they shall have established their liber- 
ty, or until the power of their oppressors shall have 
relieved them from the burthen of existence. 

It may now be asked, perhaps, whether the ex- 
pression of our own sympathy, and that of the coon- 
try, may do them good ? 1 hope it may. It may 
give them courage and spirit^ it may assure them of 
public regard, teach them that they are not wholly 
forgotten by the civilised world, and inspire thenj 



46 

with conslancy in the pursuit of .their great end. At 
any rate, Sir, it appeal^ to me, that the measure 
which I have proposed is due to our own character, 
and called for by our own duty. When we sliall 
have discharged that duty, we may leave the rest to 
the disposition of Providence. 

I do not see how it can b^ doubted, that this mea- 
sure is entirely pacific I profess my inability to 
perceive that it has any possible tendency to involve 
our neutral relations. If t!ie resolution pass, it is 
not, necessarily, to he immediately acted on. It will 
not be acted on at all, unless, in the opinion of the 
President, a proper and safe occasion for acting upon 
it shall arise. If we adopt the resolution to-day, our 
relations with every foVt'ign state will be to morrow 
precisely what they now are. The resolution will 
be sufficient to express our sentiments on the subjects 
to which I have ad\i3rted. Useful to that purpose, 
it can be mischievous to no purpose. If the topic 
were properly introduced into the Message, it can- 
not be improperly introduced into discussion in this 
House. If it were proper, w^hich no one doubts, for 
the President to express his opinions upon it, it can- 
not, I think, be improper for us to express ours. 
The only certain effect of this resolution is to ex- 
press, in a form usual in bodies constituted like this, 
our approbation of the general sentiment of the Ales- 
sage. Do we wish to withhold that approbation ? 
The Resolution confers on the President no new 
power, nor does it enjoin on him the exercise of any 
new duty ; nor does it hasten him in the discharge 
of any existing duty, 

1 cannot imagine that this resolution can add aiiy 



47 

Uring to those excitements wliicli it has been sup- 
pose<l, I think very causelessly, might possibly pro- 
voke the Turkish government to acts of hostility. 
There is already the Message, expressing the hope 
of success to the (Greeks, and disaster to the Turks, 
in a much stronger manner than is to be implied 
from the terms of this resolution. There is the cor- 
respondence between the Secretary of State and the 
Greek Agent in London, already made public, in 
which similar Nvishes are expressed, and a contiuu- 
ance of the correspondence apparently invited. I 
might add t6 this, the unexampled burst of feeling 
which this cause has called forth from all classes of 
society, and the notorious fact of pecuniary contribu- 
tions made througliout the country for its aid and 
advancement. After all this, whoever can see cause of 
danger to our pacific relations from the adoption of 
this resolution, has a keener vision than I can pre* 
tend to. Sir, these is no augmented danger; there is 
no danger. The question comes at last to this^ 
whether, on a subject of this sort, this House holds 
an opinion which is worthy to be expressed ? 

Even suppose, Sir, an Agent or Commissioner 
were to be immediatelv sent, — a measure which I mv- 
self believe to be the proper one, — there is no breach 
0f neutrality, nor any just cause of olfence. Such an 
agent, of course, would not be accredited ; he would 
not be a public minister. The object would be in- 
quiry and information ; inquiry, which we have a 
right to make; information^ which we are interested 
to possess. If a dismemberment of the Turkish em- 
pire be taking place, or has already taken place ; if 
a new state be rising^, or be already risen, in t!i<* 



48 

Mediterranean, who can doubt, that, without any 
])reach of neutrality, we may inform ourselves of 
these events, for the government of our own concerns? 

The Greeks hrve declared the Turkish coasts in 
a state of blockade : may we not ir Torm ourselves 
whether t!iis blockade be nominal or real ? and, of 
course, whether it simll be regarded or disregarded? 
The greater our trade may happen to be with- Smyr- 
na, a consideration which seems to have alarmed 
some gentlemen, the greater is the reason, in my 
opinion, why we should seek to be accurately inform- 
ed of those events which may affect its safety. 

It seems to me impossible, therefore, for any rea- 
sonable man to imagine-, that this resolution can ex- 
pose us to the resentment of the sublime Porte. 

As little reason is there for fearing its consequen- 
ces upon the conduct of the Allied Powers. They 
may, very naturally, dislike our sentiments upon the 
subject of the Greek Revolution ; but what those 
sentiments are, they will much more explicitly learn 
in the President's Mf^^sage than in this resolution. 
They might, indeed, prefer that we should express 
no dissent upon the (^o:i»*iries which they have avow- 
ed, and the applirution which they have made of 
those doctrines to tlie case of Greece. But I trust 
we are not disposed to leave them in any doubt as to 
our sentiments upon these important subjects. They 
have expressed their opinions, and do noi call that 
expression of opinion, au interference ; in which re- 
spect they are right, as the expression of opinion, in 
such cases, is not such {'Mint erf ere nee as would justiry 
(iie Greeks in coisMlering the powers as at war with 
fhem. For the same reason; any expression which 



49 

we may make, of different principles and different 
sympathies, is no interference, No one would call 
the President's Message an interference ; and yet it 
is much stronger, in tliat respect, than this resolution. 
If either of them could be construed to be an inter- 
ference, no doubt it would be improper, at least it 
would be so, according to my view of the subject ; 
for the very thing which 1 have attempted to resist 
in the course of these observations, is the right of fo- 
reign interference. But neither the Message nor the 
resolution has that character. There is not a power 
in Europe that can suppose, that, in expressing our 
opinions on this occasion, we are governed by any 
desire of aggrandizing ourselves, or of injuring others. 
We do no more than to maintain those established 
principles, in which we have an interest in common 
w^tli other nations, and to resist the introduction of 
new principles and new rules, calculated to destroy 
the relative independence of states, and particularly 
hostile to the whole fabric of our own government. 

I close, then, Sir, with repeating, that the object 
of this resolution is, to avail ourselves of the inte- 
resting occasion of the Greek revolution, to make our 
protest against the doctrines of the Allied Powers ; 
Loth as they are laid down in principle, and as they 
are applied in practice. 

I think it right too. Sir, not to be unseasonable in 
the expression of our regard, and, as far as that goes, 
in a ministration of our consolation, to a long oppress- 
ed and now struggling people. I am not of those 
who would in the hour of utmost peril, withhold 
such encouragement as might be properly and law- 
fully given, and when the crisis should be past, over 

G 



s 



50 

^helm the rescued sufferer with ^jsinf^nGss and ta- 
tesses. The Greeks address the civilized world with 
a pathos, not easy to be resisted. They iavoke out- 
favour by more moving considerations than can well 
belong to thB condition of any other people. They 
stretch out their arms to the Christian communities 
of the earth, beseeching them, by a generous re- 
collection of their ancestors^ by the consideration of 
their own desolated and ruined cities and villages, 
by their wives and children, sold into an accursed 
slavery, by tlieir own blood, which they seem willinf:^ 
to pour out like water, by the common faith, and in 
the iS'ame, which unites all Christians, that they 
would extend to them, at least some token of com- 
passionate regard. 






^ 8 1 ^" \^ ,c. 














^\n^^ 



r^ '^t.. ^A: 



'^r 



\y^^^^' 



,y ^ ^ * fj ,. c 






■fr 



<^\o^ 



.^<t 



\' -p 









.S^ 



t 



OO. 



" t, ^^^^Ct/i^"'"* . 



'if 



I- 



.&' 



l',^-^.^'. 



\ 



\ ' I'' p -c- 



'"" " ':^. " 



.& ./>, 



.V 









'.0^ 



.00, 



'^- " 3 N 



v-^' r 









:'^ 



> 



'C>,^'^^■ 



o> 



v-^ 



^^^■■^V 









«ar\^ 






•-^ o 



^, ^., *^ .J^^^>1^-^/ 



.s^ % 



: '^.0^ 



1 ^ 



.0 -^ 









V ^■ 












^ 'o^. .s^,G^ 



co^^' 



gbESS 




h\'At':^ 



\l-^^ 



)} 



If, • " " 'r 












J 

'hv 

^4 



>|||j|[.||P|i|iilllilllllllllM^ 



I 

O 
I 

o 







mr webst er sspeeeh04.webs 



17 
16 I 1,8 



19 I 21 



20 I V- 



23 25 

24 






d 









■r< 



■■J'' 



ujllglllllllig^ 



o 

I 

o 



in 





mrwebst ers5peeeh04webs 




17 



19 I i} 



16 



18 1 20 



22 



23 25 

24 



.j«: 



r 




•^ 



